Double Reset
by Believe24
Summary: What if Rita could reset with Cage? What if she could reset and remember what happened before? Finally a relationship can form.
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place after Cage realizes the omega isn't in the dam. **

**I do not own edge of tomorrow or its characters. Hope you like the story so far and review please. Thank you.**

This time was going to be different. He knew where the alpha mimic was and he knew where he was when he died. He could get it to bleed on Rita too! And then maybe, just maybe she would wake up remembering him finally. He was so tired of forming a relationship with her and then have to watch her die in that stupid god damn farm house. Have her finally open up to him, kill him and then wake up and have her forget everything! It was the loneliest feeling in the world.

It was the the millionth time being on the damn plane and once again it got hit. He watched people drop and he dropped with them soon after then he once again landed on the desolate beach. As always it looked like a waist land war zone with bodies and suits mangled on top of each other or under sand or ship. As always Rita came out of her separate ship with her special team but unlike the original times she came to him. This was the time it would change. He had tried this idea with her three times before but she always died just before they got to the alpha. He mapped it out this time, this time a ship wouldn't land on them, a mimic wouldn't bite their faces, a mimic wouldn't beat the crap out of them, they wouldn't be accidentally shot. This time an alpha would come out of the dune and he would shoot it and it would bleed on her. It had to. He was getting tired.

They met in one of the broken ships laying in the sand. Cage took Ritas hand and led her through the madness her armor blazing and firing at everything in sight. She didn't care if she hit a soldier, they were going to reset after Cages next death. He told her to duck and she ducked just as a piece of shrapnel came flying at her head. A mimic appeared from the sand and he shot it without blinking. They continued on heading in the opposite direction of the town.

"Where are we going?!" Rita yelled. Cage didn't let go of her hand and continued toward the dune. To the left he shot two more mimics. Rita shot one to the right.

"Trust me I know what I'm doing. We have to take this way to get past a herd of mimics. This way, come on!" He called out. This was a lie, there were mimics in that direction but not as many than there were in the direction they were going. He shot two more mimic but then both lost their balance and slid into a sand dune. There were two other soldiers but they were already dead. Cage counted down the seconds but of course Rita lost her patients after three. She pulled away but Cage grabbed her arm tighter and pulled her close to him. Their chests were against each other's and their noses nearly touched.

"What are you doing?" She demanded trying to release her arm but Cages grip held strong.

"Just wait. You have to wait." He said calmly.

"We're wasting time!" She yelled.

"Ha, luckily time is one thing I have on our side." He laughed at the irony.

Just a moment later from under the dune less than five meters from them an alpha mimic exploded out of the sand. It kicked two men that were on top of it its tentacles flaring every which way. "Shit!" Rita exclaimed. Without waiting another minute Cage picked them both up from the sand and readied his weapon. They moved closer, Rita struggled. "What the hell are you doing?" She a asked him.

"Giving us a double advantage." He yelled to her. He activated his back rifles which extended from his pack and aimed for the mimic. It immediately saw him and hurled itself at them with every tentacle it had. No matter how many times he stared at one of those things he never got used to it. Their eyes were as black as space itself. Staring into the eyes of one was like staring into a bottomless pit. It was always so unnerving being so close to one of the killer creatures but this time it was absolutely necessary, if he wanted Rita to remember him he needed this to happen. What was one more death? It was getting pretty meaningless to him anyway.

Rita continued to free herself from his grip but by the time she felt him loosen it he had fired.

The beast exploded right in front of them. They watched as the light blue creature blew spreading its body parts all over the dune, the shrapnel, and themselves. Cage looked to Rita who was staring back at him in disbelief. The next second Cage felt the blue oozing molten hot blood hit his body. It burned like lava, disintegrating any skin it touched. It caused a piercing loud scream to come from his lungs. The light faded away and the strangest feeling came over him, he was quickly dying, then all was dark.

* * *

"On your feet maggot!" A voice jolted him awake. A man was standing over him with a uniform and a uniform in hand. Cage quickly rose to his feet. Had it worked? He was still going back in time but did Rita reset too? He needed to find her, but first he had to go through the same annoying routine with the general, j quad, and push ups.

That as usual happened. Cage did the push ups he was told to do, rolled under the truck and made a break for Rita and the training facility where she graciously killed him 40 times. He walked into the facility getting dirty looks from all of the other recruits walking by. The only thing going through his mind was worry. He was so tiered of seeing her die just after they were making progress on a decent relationship. He just wanted her to remember, it would make everything so less lonely and he wouldn't have to start over with every one every time. If this hadn't worked for some reason, than there was no other option that to go back to the old way where he had to convince her he wasn't lying, fill her in on everything and then die twelve seconds later.

His heart sank when he saw her in the center of the training field doing no leg push ups. They were incredibly attractive every time he saw her doing them, it always turned him on but not this time. She was doing what she did every time. He started walking towards her and as she always did she turned to him, set herself down and stood from the ground not even needing to look for the robots. He didn't either but it was still impressive. They stood eye level to each other staring at each other. Cage had a smile on his face as he waited for her to speak. Was she going to say something new, or the same damn thing she said every time they were here. He always thought that somehow she would retain some memory of the previous reality, he hoped, he prayed but she never did. But this time there was a chance, this time there was science on his side. Crazy, nonsensical, alien science. It was an eternity but finally her mouth began to move but no words came out, instead a fist came hurling at him hitting his jaw and knocking him to the floor. It hurt like hell. But he couldn't help but smile.

"You led me into a slaughter you ass!" She yelled proud of her punch.

Cage scurried to his feet still with the his stupid smile on his face. "You remember! You reset too!"

"Yes, and thank you for that." She said landing another punch on his cheek. "You could have warned me."

Cage gathered himself, "I could say the same to you with your punches."

Rita lost her tough exterior and did crack a smile, his plan was ingenious. Now once again she could reset after a death, remember all the things she did wrong so she could do better the next time and remember Cage as a bonus. It would be a lot easier to kill the omega with another person who knew what was going on. Cage was a smart guy and from the short time that she knew him she sensed he was a good guy.

On the other hand Cage had met Rita nearly a hundred times by then. He knew her like he knew his own sister by now. They had shared the same stories so many times, he knew her better than she knew him but now that could change. Now she could get to know him and not forget at the next reset. It was a knew perspective on their situation. It was only the beginning.

**to be continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter cool! I wrote this on a kindle so sorry for grammar/spelling blehhhhh. There is no spell check on this thing, at least not one that works well. But anyway enjoy and thank you for showing interest in my sorry. **

* * *

"So what happens now when one of us dies?" Cage asked repairing a broken suit.

Rita looked up from hers. It was a fascinating question. What would happen now that both of them could reset. One could reset and find the other knowing that the one they just saw was probably still alive. The concept hurt her mind. If one died would they both reset? Or would the other go one leaving the other to reset and find the other in a new reality. It was quantum mechanics that no one ever questioned. "Umm. I don't know. There obviously isn't any prior reference. To be safe I'd say if one of us die we should both die. So say if you die I kill myself and we will see each other at the next reset. If not I don't know what would happen."

Cage nodded his head. It was a very interesting concept. But like Rita he didn't want to think about it too much. There was no way to tell what would happen until it happened. They continued working on the modifications to their suits.

"I'm glad. I've seen you die too many damn times. It'll be nice to have you watch me die for a change and have you remember. I hated watching you die."

"I didn't know you cared." Rita smiled.

"Are you kidding? I-" he started with a smile but couldn't find the words to explain his experience and just stopped. It was harder than anything he had ever done in his whole life. Somehow it felt worse than having to kill himself but he was used to it by now. In his experience with death, it didn't hurt.

"Are you going to finish that thought Cage?" She asked intrigued.

"What?" He said looking up from his work. "Umm no. No. I'm, I'm done." He stuttered. Rita laughed at him and put on her suit.

"Are you ready. You should be heading to your plane by now. You don't want to miss boarding or ill have to do it all myself." Rita said. She was right he had to get to the docking bay soon. He nodded and put on his suit then headed to the bay.

As he walked there a thousand thoughts were going through his head about the mission. This time he was going to be taking Rita to the farm house but it was because it had a helicopter. He didn't know exactly where he was going but being in the air seemed like a better idea than being on the ground. The only problem was that Rita always, always died there! Every freaking time! He had done it so many times by then though that he thought he had a good plan for this time around. And that included a TON of missiles. That was his best option. Let Rita take off, shoot the living hell out of the mimic hiding underneath it and then jump on from the roof. He had gone over it with Rita but she thought it was a stupid plan. She only agreed because he promised her that if it didn't work they could try her way the next time. But they desperately needed that helicopter. They could go anywhere with that thing and even though he had already been to the dam it never hurt to have a helicopter on their side, that was his logic. That was the exact reason why Rita thought he was a complete idiot. He liked that about her. You couldn't stop her from speaking her mind.

He got there just in time. J squad eyed and cursed at him as soon as he strapped in as usual but it didn't stop him from doing anything. It was only the thousandth time they had yelled at him. Take off followed soon after. Some one called him a dead man and they were told it was okay to be scared. It wasn't okay for him. He had been there a hundred times, if he was still scared by then there would have to be something wrong with him. He stopped being scared by the fifth jump, adrenaline rushed through his head every time, the sensation was extreme, but he wasn't scared.

A few moments later and yet again the plane was hit and began to shut down in mid air. People dropped at cage dropped soon after. His line broke and he hit the sand hard. He watched as a fellow j squad member was hit by a fallen plane and another was attacked by a mimic. He had no time to waist watching them all suffer on the beach. He had to get to Rita, escape to the town, and race to a vehicle. It was a long Sprint to yet another crashed ship but he found Rita in the midst of a battle with a mimic. She saw him then shot the mimic dead in the face.

He saw her smile seeing the mimic fall to the ground then turned to him excitedly. "I remember doing this last time. It took me twice the amount of time to kill it last time! I really do have the power again." She said excitedly. She had forgotten how useful it was to be able to reset; when she died again she could kill the mimic even faster and remember so much more. She was grateful to Cage for making her able to reset again, more than he knew. She just wished he had told her before he had her killed. "So now what?"

"We go head for the farm house past the trailer park." He said breathing heavy having ran all the way there.

"The farm house. I don't recall ever being there. Have I? Been there with you before?" She asked not being able to remember a previous time yet. Cage hesitated. The farm house was a place that had some of the the most intense memories since the whole situation began. She died every time and every time she did she told him a little bit more about her personal life, sharing one more thing about her that was truly personal. And every time he felt a little closer to her, and then she'd die a few moments later. He learned so much about her in that little farm house. Learned what she liked and hated, how to tend to her wounds, her middle name. That was the reset he remembered the most, when she told him her middle name. It was the closest he ever felt to her.

"Yeah you have." He answered simply and softly.

"Well how many times? Why do we need to go there?"

"There are useful supplies there. Some of the best stuff we've ever run into." He said starting to run out from under the cover of the ship. Rita shook herself and ran after him, her senses alert and active, her blood pumping, her feet running, her guns ready. She caught up to Cage quickly but shuffled now and again in the lose sand but every soldier did, it was horrible terrain. Their armor fired in every direction at every target they could focus on. The mimics weren't paying so much attention to them but whenever one was within firing range they gladly shot it till it exploded. Cage took Ritas hand as he did the last time and ran up the sand hill that separated the battle field from the abandoned town trailer park. There were never any mimics past the fifth yard but the hill was nearly 200 yards long. It was a difficult climb covered with loose sand and rock and every time he did it he could barely breathe.

Every time Cage ever climbed that hill all went silent. The climb was so long and difficult that when you had started you couldn't stop no matter how tired you were. He was so tired and the air was so muskey that the only thing he could do was climb and breathe with just the sound of his heart beat blasting in his ears as loud as a drum symphony. He just has to keep climbing because once he got to the top it wasn't the end, just the beginning of an even harder journey.

They got to the top of the hill both exhausted from the climb. It wasn't the steepness or the length that made it so hard, it was the slipping and loosened sand that covered it, it made it so much harder than it had to be. They got the the top despite it. Rita got to the top and almost fell to her knees her breaths heavy and close, but she would not let herself fall. She gathered herself quickly and grabbed Cage who was still panting on the ground.

"Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover." She said beginning to pull him.

"Wait... Wait for a second." He said between breaths and rose to his feet. "There's something we need to do first. Something we always do when we get to the top." He told her turning back to the battle field.

Rita turned as well and what she saw was breathtaking. It was a horrible scene of mangled bodies, fire and wreckage. She had never seen the view from that angle or at least didn't remember it. Dunes of sand full of corpses and crashed ships. So much torn metal from destroyed ships covered the battle ground, more than she thought there was. More than a hundred ships and three thousand of their pieces scattered, some burning some burnt. As they stood they could see mimics coming from the sky or the sand attacking soldiers, killing them brutally. It was a sight of nightmares. So much chaos so much destruction so much death.

"You see this everytime?" She asked. He didn't look to her. He was too busy watching the destruction. He just nodded. He had seen it so many times but he never got used to the sight. The fire, the ships, the death. It was from a nightmare and he had to live it everyday.

"Alright. Let's go." He said beginning to walk away.

Rita looked back one more time then caught up with Cage. "You never answered my question Cage?"

"What? Which one?" He asked.

"How many times? How many times have you been this way to the farm house?" She asked once more.

He stopped. How could he put it in a way that didn't make him seem weak in front of the angel of Verdun? "Too Damon many." He answered simply and continued on. The answer seemed good enough for her.

* * *

Once again they took the truck with the trailer attached to the back. This time he made sure the trailer wasn't attached so there was a lot less "activity" during the ride there. But it was a nice time for him to talk to Rita. All the other times he had drilled her about her life so that he could relate to her better the next time. This time he let her ask the questions. She actually, surprisingly was open to the idea in a joking sense only asking strange questions. She hadn't completely acknowledged the fact that they were stuck together for a long time. No matter how many times they died.

"What college did you go to?" She asked

"Virginia tech." He answered.

"Siblings?" She asked.

"Two sisters. Mariah and Willa." He answered.

"Guilty pleasure?"

"Eating a whole family size bag of chips in a day." He answered finally breaking a big smile.

"When did you lose your virginity?" She asked inheriting his smile.

"Whoa. That escalated quickly! Ummm I'm going to say 17? Maybe."

They were all smiles. It was a long car ride and Cage had gone through it fifty times but this was the one that seemed to be the most interesting. Rita had never shown this side to herself before. Laughing and asking strange, strange questions. It was an interesting change. "What about me? You know any answers to any of those questions about me?" Rita asked.

"College, no. A brother named Marshall, and you love coffee and marshmallows which personally I find just wrong!" he said feeling the wind slow from out the window. After that his smile was quickly erased. That meant the time had come where the car lost gas and they were headed to the farm house. He hoped that this time things would be different. That they could find a way to keep Rita alive and both make it to the helicopter. The chances were slim. He didn't even know why he wanted it, it just seemed like a good option. But he didn't know how he was going to get both of them in it and off safely. He could only hope that his crazy plan was good enough.


	3. Chapter 3

The time had finally come where they reached the farmhouse. It was finally time to see if all of their planning and estranged ideas would actually work or blow up in their faces. It was the time where they would discover what happened when one died and not the other. They both kept a gun on them anyway just to make sure they could reset as soon as one died. Rita felt uneasy for the first time in a while, it had been a long time since she had had to kill herself. She had never gotten use to the idea of killing herself, she didn't have a real religion but believed that there was something that happened after death, an after life, heaven, hell, pure consciousness, it didn't matter what it was after but she strongly believed there was something. Dying and resetting seemed like cheating fate.

She was prepared to die for the greater good. However she was unaware that she was so close again, she had a feeling she was going to die some time soon but hadn't heard Cage say it to her directly. It was just a feeling but the look on Cages face raised her suspicions. He had been there a hundred times, she couldn't even remember one yet.

He knocked down the door of the farm house and stepped inside not even bothering to put up his weapon.

"Watch your shoulders. You cut it on that nail over there." He told her pointing to the pointed out nail that once held a frame.

"So what exactly are we doing out here?" She asked moving away from it.

"There are a lot of supplies out back." He said as he opened cabinet after cabinet looking inside.

"So what are you doing now?" She asked criticizing him.

"Huh? Oh well I'm hungry. I never realized how hungry I was after all those hikes till now. There's got to something in here besides coffee." He told her throwing things out of the way.

"There's coffee?" She asked excitedly joining in the scouring.

"No no the coffee is over her by me don't open-" he tried to stop her but it was too late, by the time he started she had opened the cabinet and a dozen or so shattered plates came crashing out of the cabinet.

"Ow. Got dammit! Bloody hell!" She yelled as jagged edges from many of the pieces cut her arm making it bleed everywhere. She looked over at Cage after they had all fallen to the floor angrily. He stood there with a blank expression.

"I was about to warn ya." He said trying not to laugh or look guilty. She continued to stand holding her arm with fire in her eyes. "Come on. There's probably a first aid kit in the garage." Though he knew there was. "Great. Now I don't get to eat. That sucks." He said grabbing the coffee trying to be amusing.

They brewed the coffee in the chimenia and sat on rusted beach chairs that had been hanging on the wall. Cage had used the first aid kit a hand full of times, some with Rita's assistance and others once he knew what he was doing without asking her. He took the skin glue and connected the two pieces of loosened skin back together then bandaged it with the mesh.

"You're good at this Cage. Where did you learn to triage?"

He hesitated to answer not wanting to ruin the moment and give her a reason to ask if he had been in the exact situation; which he had been, at least six times with the exact same circumstances. He had fixed her arm after being cut with a plate five times, fixed her after a nail cut her once and after a mimic attack too many to count. For a soldier she was very clumsy around that house. He didn't say the same about her being attacked by mimics because he had been in that situation a hell of a lot of times. "I've picked up a few things." He said simply, trying not to draw attention to his skills. "Drink your coffee, it's just the way you like it." He told her handing it to her already exactly as she preferred it to be. 'Dammit!' He though realizing that already knowing what she liked would raise her suspicions, which it did.

She took a sip, it was perfect. The perfect amount of sugar, the perfect type, perfect blackness. So perfect that it seemed like he had been doing it his whole life. "How did you know how I precisely liked my coffee?" She asked setting it down moving so close to him that he could feel her breath on his neck. "How many times? How many times have we been here?"

It was always the damn coffee. It always gave him away, always destroyed the calm moment. He sigh and set down the tools. "Too many Rita. Too damn many."

The barn grew silent. Just the breathing of Cage and Rita could be heard, that and the cracks of the barn creaking. Rita looked at him her mouth loose, her eyes wide. She wasn't feeling anything specifically, not anger not sadness. The best word she could find was empathy. She felt something for Cage, she felt sorry for him. He must have seen her live and die so many times and he was the only one who had the memories. He had to form a relationship with her to earn her own trust and then reset to a timeline where she forgot everything again. He felt shame, shame for caring for a woman who he kept living the same day with more than a hundred times. He kept thinking after she reset a couple dozens times that she would understand how hard it was to be in the situation. He hadn't forgotten that she had been able to do it before, but she handy teamed up with someone who didn't remenber her time and time again, at least not to his knowledge. He had never asked in all the resets about her own experiences.

"I think, I think it's time we go Cage." She said getting up.

"Please, please Rita no. Let's stay a little longer. We have the time. I don't want to do this yet." He said softly in the strangest tone she had ever heard from him. It was as if he ached for her not to go.

"Cage, I don't know you. I've known you for two days. And we may have the time but the faster we start, the sooner we can start again." She said ignoring his plead and stood up.

"Rita no! I'm not ready to see you die again! That's what you're going to do by the way, die! In just a few minutes! There's a mimic under that damn helocopter and it's gonna attack you as soon as you take off. And I don't know if this stuff is going to work!" He said referring to the explosives they brought. "Stop rushing into this we always rush and you always die. That's the prerogative here, don't think and then die. I'm sick of it." He ranted to her.

Rita stopped. She knew he had been hiding something not that it would be the first time. "Every time we die, we learn Cage." Was all she said. She felt that it was all that was needed to be said. She looked into his eyes and it seemed he understood. She walked back to him putting her hands one his shoulders. "No more secrets. Tell me everything, stop manipulating the situation with what you know, we're in this together now. You can't fight the inevitable." He nodded having already put himself together. The moment had finally come, the moment of truth. Would anything really ever change?

Rita climbed into the cock pit and readied the engine. Cage had climbed up to the roof with explosives ready to be thrown. He gave her the signal and the engine started. His heart stopped beating as it slowly took off from the ground followed by those sinister tentacles reaching for the railing. It latched on making a horrific shrieking noise. Rita tried to control the shaking of the copter but she couldn't take to the skies and do that at the same time. She started to panic.

"Throw the things Cage do it now!" She yelled beginning to lose control.

"How many?" He asked from the roof.

"Just throw them all!" She called. Without hesitation Cage plunged the armed explosives at the base of the helicopter pad. And counted down.

Five, the creature broke it's tentacle through the window.

Four, Rita let go of the controls to cut it off with her knife.

Three, the creature reacted.

Two, glass crashed, Cage closed his eyes.

One.

* * *

"On your feet maggot!"

Cage opened his eyes and found himself looking up at an army man yelling at him to wake up. He had died.

"Crap!"


	4. Chapter 4

They tried the same idea over and over and over thinking that with one more tweak they could get it to work. They got closer every time, but close wasn't nearly good enough, not one bit. Cage watched the strain in Rita's eyes become greater and greater each time. He watched her hope whither, her dreams dwindle. He could see her desperation in the way she moved. She was growing tired and angry. He never thought he'd see the day where she would doubt their cause; but then again, they had failed with the same idea 23 times.

Each time they thought it would work, but every time they were wrong and they would wake up a bigger failure than before.

"This isn't working!" Rita yelled from their janitor cave. She was so angry she threw a chair straight at the wall with all of her strength and anger. Cage was nearly inches away from it but didn't flinch. He didn't react to it. And yet he hadn't seen it coming, it had never happened. He was just used to her outrage.

"I know. It's very obvious. And since we know the omega is in Paris now, we definitely need the helicopter."

Three attempts ago Cage had seen the omega again this time in Paris. For all he knew it could be another ploy, but they had to try. They were in Europe, near germany. It was in Europe, but France was still a very long walk, which was what they would have to do if they didn't find something faster.

"Could we go and just drive?" Rita asked. She knew it was a half assed idea but it was the only one she had. Cage shook his head.

"No. We would never make it. We are wasting time as we speak! That helicopter is our only option! We can't steal any here, they're behind locked doors and hangers. And I doubt there's another random helicopter in another backyard."

They sat in silence. They were starting to give up. On their plans, on each other, on ever winning. They were never close enough to do any real damage, no matter how many mimics they killed, they would all come back. They both slouched over their chairs thinking of all this, but suddenly Rita popped up.

"I know how we can do this!" She announced. Cage looked up eager to hear her. "You're not going to like it..." his smile slipped away. "We're going to have to kill me.

**Yeah, really short chapter. But what else am I supposed to do at the airport? California bound! Yay for me! And sorry I haven't written in a long time, but it's been a while since I saw the movie so my inspiration is... dwindling. **

**But I hope you enjoyed the story so far :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Live Bait

**THIS IS VERY OVERDUE! Wow it's been really long since the last update. And I wrote this in an hour. But you deserve a continuation and so does the story. I am so grateful to all of you, this is the most followed story for edge of tomorrow! That is sooooo cool thank you so much. This will not be the last chapter I promise. **

Cage stared at Rita for a few moments. He could honestly say that what he had just heard was the dumbest plan he had ever heard. For one thing they died all the time, what was one more? What would be the point? And still, they didn't know what would happen if they died at separate times. He was no scientist, but he was half convinced that the time space continuum would blow up. But that was just him, he had watched a lot of syfy growing up.

Most of all he had watched Rita die a hundred times, and the feeling in his gut that he got every time he watched it happen never subsided. He just got used to having her around, having her remember him, having her laugh at his jokes and continue on conversations they had had the day before. He liked that. He liked her. And he couldn't help but think that she liked him too. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, he wanted to be understanding but he was just going to let out whatever came to mind.

"That's the stupidest idea I've heard!" That was the only thing that came to mind unfortunately. Rita didn't like his tone. She snarled.

"Every time we go and try to fight those things they come after me first. It's because I'm an easier target Cage! If you shoot me and injure me than ill become an easier target, i.e. a distraction." She said as factual as possible.

"So you want me... to shoot you. Basically making you a limping meal?" He stood looking at her dumbfounded, and all of a sudden burst out laughing. "God if I didn't know you were so smart I would think you were the dumbest human being that's ever lived!" He laughed.

Rita of course didn't take this lightly. She took a step forward, cage laughing, and she came closer. Until she was eye to eye with him, nose to nose. Cage stopped laughing as he noticed her eyes staring directly into his. 'Is she going to kiss me?' He thought. No. Her arm raised, hand in the form of a fist, her eyes fired with rage. Her arm struck his face knocking him to the ground waiting for the pain. There was a two second delay but it came in full force. She had hit him perfectly in the jaw. Now she was the one laughing.

"Fine fine, you have my uninterested attention." He said through his teeth while his hands rubbed his jaw she had happily hit.

"I don't care what your problem is with this, it's a good one. All of the mimics will be driven to me which will give you the time to get in the helicopter yourself. And I don't care if you don't like the plan, it's my turn." She said smugly.

Cage sighed. He disagreed with almost all of her plan but it was her turn. Turn to choose a plan. He stood his right hand still on his jaw and nodded his head. "Fine."

* * *

As always; they trained, dropped, shot mimics, ran away, stole a car, and headed to the house. Cage had decided that the trips in the car were his favorite parts of each day. He always learned something new and he always saw one of those rare Rita smiles. That was the best part.

They discussed the construction of Rita's plan, but cage listened with one ear. He didn't want to listen to Rita's impending doom, how he would have to shoot her, watch her get torn apart by those space octopi. That part made him wince. Rita noticed it and would sometimes stop talking and wait for Cage to stop thinking about it and then continue.

Cage didn't want to listen, instead he stared at her while she drove, pretending to listen and just look at her. Trying to Remember what she looked like healthy, alive. But the thoughts kept returning. Her being torn apart, him having to shoot her. He had to admit that when he first met her he would have loved to have been able to shoot her. Get her back for all the times in training that she had killed him. He had thought about it a few times when he got bored. She wouldn't have remembered anyway. But now he didn't dare think of it. Not just becAuse she would kick his ass when they both woke up but because he knew her now. She wasn't the bitch that kept shooting him anymore, she was the woman he teamed up with, that he knew and deeply cared for. She was a genius, but also clueless. After all these days she hadn't picked up on his feelings, and if she had she was ignoring hers. He didn't want to think about that either.

The house once again. Cage stared at the house, that God forsaken house and somehow managed to kill them every single time! They needed the helicopter, it was the only way they would get to Paris, that or steal an airship but that was far to difficult.

"Are you okay with the plan?" Rita asked also staring at the rickety house.

"I think the plans solid, I just don't like it." He took a breath and they both entered the house. To say cage was worried would be an understatement. They had never died more than a few seconds apart. They didn't know what would happen. If one died did that mean the other died too anyway? Or would the whole universe implode? Once again that idea was only in Cage. But Rita had similar worries. She just didn't know. But they had to try. She believed in Cage. If anyone could get to the heart of the mimics, get to the omega, it was him.

No time to waist. Rita and Cage went straight for the back yard. Rita had a sad smile on her face as she handed Cage her hand gun. She placed it in her hand and hers on top of it. She wanted to say something but didn't have the heart to say it. She just nodded and walked to a somewhat clear area in the yard. Cage steered clear of the helicopter but wasn't too far so he could make his escape.

He waited. Rita wasn't used to offering herself. She had never felt the strain a bullet put on her body. And Cage wasn't aiming for a kill spot, he was going for her leg and side, making her bloody and easy to get. But it wouldn't kill her, the mimics had that job. She was live bait. She took a deep breath and looked to Cage. He had the saddest face she had ever seen.

"I believe in you Cage. You can do this, you can do... all of this." He heard this. He fired. He hated doing it.

**Please review and if you are new to the story please follow and favorite this... if you want to. Once again thank you so much for reading and following. **


	6. Chapter 6

"Your body is laying at my feet Rita. Why? Why did you make me do it?" Her eyes were barely open, but enough to see the pupil of her eye just enough for Cage to have a twinge in his heart. He was still there and she was dead. What did that mean? What would happen when he died now? There was no way to know. And he hated it.

He didn't get a chance to say goodbye. That was the worst part he felt. He had seen her die a hundred times but this time was different. She would remember this time. Maybe. This time she knew him almost as well as he did she. Cage looked at her one last time before he ran to the helicopter in a sprint and started the engine as the forty mimics dashed to Rita's body. The helicopter started to go up and several mimics went running towards it. But they were too late. He was too far up just as Rita was too far gone.

Cage was a strong man, but Rita being someone he cared for who was now dead on his order made a tear come to his eye. Much of him wanted to say "screw it all!" And crash the craft right there and then. And hopefully find Rita waiting for him. Maybe say he went and found nothing as he did the last location and maybe convince her that it was a lost crusade. Convince her to just live her life to the fullest while she still had a life as he would. Although his vision of living his life included her in his bed, which he was pretty sure she wouldn't go along with. Or any of it. He feared she was too focused on the mission for extracurricular activities... Sex.

He flew for hours and hours until the sun was down and the stars were out and bright. They were the only thing besides the moon that light his way since the lights were out on the copter. He looked below at the cities. All in ruin at least somewhere. In other parts however the city looked quite beautiful with its lights and cars moving. And the dark parts had an eerie beauty to them as well. It was the only nice view he had seen in a while. But while he was focused on the view of the European towns he wasn't ffocuses on the fuel tank. Until it started warning him of the impending emptiness of the tank. Bitterly cage sighed. "Look what your brilliant plan has done now Rita! I'm gonna have to land and probably be killed." He cursed her name under his breath. But it also gave him comfort to mention her name.

That comfort was replaced with pain at the impact of the landing which was rocky to say the least. Cage threw himself out of the craft as it basically fell apart behind him.

He was in a forest on the edge of a little French town. Forests were breeding grounds for mimics it often seemed. They were everywhere in forest but most were too large and inhabited to block off. He would have to walk to find help.

He thought of Rita on his long walk. Of her face as he had shot her in the chest. The way she limply fell to the ground in a single instant and the blood that covered her clothes. But the look, the look that went over he face as the life slipped from her body. He had done that. He was the reason. He never wanted to do that again. He didn't know if he could. The end of the woods were marked by barbed wire and thicket, but mimics had cleared a path into a hole under the fence line. He hadn't seen any on his journey to the village. He saw in using their conveniant path. Without his suit on he could easily slip through the hole and he was free of the woods. That didn't mean he was safe though. Without Rita he would have to do twice the work, twice the fighting and twice the thinking. But most of all he would miss having her with him. In the apocalyptic nightmare they found themselves in, having her with him almost made it fun. Or at least much more interesting. She was the angel for his adventure. But the angel was dead now, and he was knocking on heavens door.

The town from where he was standing looked somewhat empty with only a few lights coming from Windows. No one was outside from what he could see. No animals, no mimics. He kept his ears open though.

A crackle, he heard it from behind him. He flinched and quickly turned his weapon at the ready. He stood strong ready to fire.

It was a man! A man with a green hat. A man with a gun! A man that was firing a-

* * *

"On your feet maggot!" He heard as he jostled awake.

"Are you God damn serious!" A man was the reason for his death, a red neck with some shot gun who thought he was a mimic!? He sigh and stood. All seemed as it usually was. But where's was Rita. Was she alright? Would she remember? He had to know.

He went through the normal God awful routine until he escaped and ran off to find Rita. His heart raced, his palms sweat, he couldn't stop biting his lip. He went into a run into the training arena until he saw the station she was normally at.

There she was. Just as always.

He skipped the formalities and just shouted her name. She reacted quickly and stood sternly. What did that mean? Did she remember?

It felt like an eternity.

"Cage."

"You remember." He said so happily under his breath.

He urged her to follow him to the janitors lair. She wanted to hear what happened. He wanted to do more than just tell.

"We're here. That obviously means you failed. What happened." She asked as serious as ever. Cage couldn't get over seeing her again. Unfortunately his face carried an unintelligible smile.

"I got as far as France."

"And?" She asked impatiently.

"I died. And realized something too."

Rita was irritable. She grabbed his shirt and threw him against a wall with ill intent. Her chest was close to his, he could hear her heart, feel her heavy breath, see her gritted teeth. "What's that?" She asked not really caring.

There was a pause. Cage looked down and back up examining her. Then grabbed her collar as she did his, but he did it not because he was angry. He pulled her even closer. "I realized I can't do this without you, Rita." She wasn't able to react in time. Before she knew it Cage had put her lips against his. He waited but did not stop, he waited for her to pull away. But she didn't. She kissed back. He didn't know why.

**I am very sorry I have not written in so long. I hope you didn't think I gave up on the story I just needed an idea and it just suddenly did. I try not to take long breaks because readers want updates. I hope you aren't disappointed with the chapter. I don't know when ill write again but hopefully it will be soon. Follow and favorite if you want. Pleeaasssseee comment and once again thank you for reading and sorry for the awful wait. **


	7. Chapter 7

"Cage.." Rita slowly separated herself from him and calmly stepped away. "The whole world is at stake."

"The world can wait. Or reset itself for all I care. We have the time. More time than the world does."

"No! We don't! I can't take time for myself to just sit back and let my personal relationship with an egotistical jackass take front seat. While we are doing this hundreds and more are dying outside."

"Theyre just going to reset Rita! Do you honestly think that this game is ever going to end? I'm having my doubts! I've jumped about a hundred times and it's giving me a headache. I'm sick of it!" Cage sat back on the table staring at the beautiful but stubborn angel that was Rita. He tried to me mindful of his temper toward her not wanting to scare her off from his romantic intentions. But for her it was clear that was the last thing on her mind.

Rita snapped back immediately with a weary tone, "headache Cage? Really?"

"No need to sarcastic or anything. Jesus Rita."

"No I'm serious. How long have you had this happen to you?"

"A couple jumps. Dehydrated ok?"

"No! Cage for God sakes. They're adapting to our ability to reset the day. The alpha that you killed is killing itself so that we can't use its blood anymore! And if it does from blood poisoning, well so do we!"

William slowly rose from the metal table grasping the edge as tight as he could. His throat dried at her jumble of words. "That can't be true how would you know this? What makes you even think this?"

"Doctor Carter. When I was given the ability he tracked down the alpha whom I had killed. It was changing its blood chemistry to some unknown product. I think I just realized what it was that it was changing it to. Into poison!"

Rita, Carter, and Cage spent the next hour studying their blood chemistry. Unfortunately he was experiencing the first symptom of blood poisoning. From what they could gather it was a slow process but with each jump he and eventually Rita would get a little worse, until it would eventually kill them. Suddenly everything changed for Cage. When he looked at Rita he no longer saw a strong amazing woman whom he was slowly falling for; he saw a strong amazing woman who was soon to be a casualty. They thought they held the key to winning the war, but now it seemed that that lock was being changed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes staring at their battered shoes. Carter left not able to stand the tension any longer. The end seemed near. "I think this egotistical jackass is ready to put his personal feeling aside now and focus on the mission before it inevitably ends." He said very empty. Rita looked at him with the opposite expression; compassion and empathy.

Are you sure? I know you just found out that you were basically dying."

"So did you."

"Yes, but the difference between you and I is that I always accepted the fact that I was going to die in this war. You on the other hand have the hope of a child. And I envy that. You never thought you were going to lose."

"And if we leave now I just might win yet. So let's go." He replied still just as hollow. Rita turned Him around in one swift move grabbing his chin as well. He reluctantly stopped and looked her in the eye.

"It's okay to be scared of death as long as it doesn't control you. Fear allows you to feel." She said softly. Her face only inches from his just a little farther down. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek though it was filled with empty promises. She waited for him to respond, a breath, a word, anything. But instead they stood like this in silence for two minutes.

Finally but reluctantly Cage responded, "I don't feel anything anymore." This time he was the one to separate them. "We should go." He said softly this time with a slight bit of emotion. Rita didn't buy it though. To her, Cage wasn't the same person anymore. Dying slowly just wasn't his style.

**Yusssss! Finally! No I never forgot this story I just ddint want to disappoint with a half hearted chapter. But some of you who keep following and commenting got me back into the zone. Thank you for the continual interest. **


	8. Chapter 8

**SORRYYYYYYY**

'_Is he bipolar? Or is he so messed up that he can't keep his emotions in check for one lousy minute?' _Rita thought to herself, yet still, when she looked at the man with the blank expression next to her, she couldn't help but miss that one minute in the janitors room when her lips were on his, the time when the world could wait. Even so she wanted to hit Cage. Since their conversation he wasn't saying much either because he was angry or actually scared about really dying. From what she had been told, Rita knew that the headaches would worsen to a point where Cage would be in so much pain he wouldn't be able to bare it. What can you do for a dying man in pain who won't die?

They had no plan left. The only way they could get to the copter would be for one of them to die and neither could go on without the other. They had already gotten past the battle ground and into one of the cars with little problem, but neither knew where to go from there.

"Where are we going, Cage?" Rita suddenly asked knowing well where they were going.

"Well obviously the farm house but first, I'm going to find the nearest bar house, get drunk off my ass, and then hopefully get into a fight with some bikers who will undoubtedly beat me to a pulp and start this terrible freaking day over again." Cage said this in the most mono tone fashion Rita had ever heard. Whether or not he was actually joking remained unknown but did make Rita laugh a little.

"And what am I doing in the midst of this?" Rita joked.

"Either getting felt up by one of the bikers, the bartender, or hopefully by me." Cage smirked finally showing some of his old self.

"Jackass." Rita yelled lifting up her arm and punching him dead in his temple.

Cage coughed, suddenly everything around him started flashing, the vehicle moved farther and farther away from him but he stood still. No matter what he did he couldn't look around. All he could see was lights, all he could hear was himself. '_Am I dying?' _Cage thought. All of a sudden the light became too bright to bare. When he opened his eyes again, Cage wasn't in the car with Rita, he was in Paris, or at least his mind was. The Eiffel tower, the gardens, then suddenly he was staring at the louvre museum. He moved again, going straight down. "_Well, looks like I'm going to hell after all!" _Cage thought as his mind went further and further down until finally, another flash of light. And then there it was. A beating pulse of blue matter and dozens of alphas everywhere. "_this is it... this is omega.." _

Cage felt himself jerk and for a moment there was only darkness. When he opened his eyes everything was hazy, and his head was absolutely throbbing. He moaned at the sensation.

"Haha, jeez I didn't hit you that hard!" Rita cracked. Cage didn't respond to her. "Oh my god Cage you're bleeding!" She suddenly announced. Right under his nose, blood tricked down from both nostrils. "What's going on are you ok? It's not because I hit you right?" Usually Rita didn't care as much about his well being but now that he started showing symptoms of the blood poisoning she was being more cautious.

"I'm fine it's not cause you hit me. Lay off please." He moaned. Rita suddenly noticed she had moved half way onto his lap. "Really I'm fine. I think I know where to go."

* * *

"So, I hit you, triggering some sort of vision that showed you the true location of the omega? And now we know exactly where we need to be in Paris!? God if the world wasn't the way it was I'd say you were insane." Rita rolled her eyes.

"But it is this world. And finally, finally we are getting somewhere." He said smiling.

"But how are we getting to Paris now? We can't go back to base, it's basically gone! And the helicopter is out of the question!" Rita yelled to Cage as the car continued to accelerate.

"Nothing since the whole day is basically wasted. The base is probably destroyed by now which means we can't take a plane and everyone is as good as dead so we can't get any back up."

"So where are you going to in such a God damn hurry?"

"Right into that wall!" He said in the most insane and free voice Rita had ever heard. In front of them, was a quickly approaching brick wall and their speed was reaching upwards of seventy.

"Wait! Cage, wait no!" He heard Rita plea at the last second but he was too busy feeling the wind through his hair and screaming in a delighted boyish tone. He let go of the wheel and closed his eyes still ignoring Rita. Start the bloody day over again, there was nothing g left to do here. A marvelous, loud sound swept through his ears before the definite blackness occurred around him.

* * *

"On your feet maggot!" The voice erupted through is ears but Cage had a hard time opening his eyes. He felt funny, he felt awful! His body immediately shot upwards from the sacks he was laying on and started vomiting uncontrollably. He heard the sergeant groan in annoyance before lifting him off the ground by the bare collar.

"Jesus kid what the hell is wrong with you? I can't decide to put you in the infirmary or the brig." The sergeant laughed.

"Sir! Allow me!" Said a voice quickly getting closer. The voiced around Cage seemed to silence at the presence.

"Ms. Vrataski. What are you... Of course but why?" He seemed a little shell shocked my her being there.

"She's my angel." Cage coughed and coughed some more. The sergeant snickered at him before throwing him to the ground. Rita quickly met his side and helped him up. He looked absolutely terrible, like he was actually in a car accident but not really. His eyes were blood shot, his skin was pale and his nose was once again bleeding. She lifted him up and leaned him against her shoulders and made him walk with her. He did not protest the assistance, she did not protest helping him. It was the first time she had met him rather than he meet her. Cage knew that and it warmed him. He kept coughing till bits of blood escaped his mouth. "You're my angel..." He mumbled softly.

Soon, Cage found himself laying on a table in the janitors room having Rita feed him water and cold towels. He chewed piece after piece of gum to take the terrible taste out of his mouth.

"You idiot! This is why I didn't want you killing yourself! This blood poisoning is dangerous and fast! It'll only get worse. I can't believe you didn't let me finish..." she kept swearing at him not that he was actually listening. Cage slowly sat himself up holding the cold towel to his forehead. Rita kept swearing at him while taking his temperature. _"God why do her lips keep moving so fast?" _The second she looked up at him to give him another piece of her mind, Cage swooped a kiss onto her. She fell silent finally. He'd missed kissing her.

What felt like minutes was only a few seconds. Cage moved away with a sincere smile. "Thank you for coming for me." He said. Slowly, he stood himself up from the table. He was still unsteady but felt a world better than what he was before. "Let's go steal a plane!" He said acting like a teenager ready for a game. Even if she was mad, Rita couldn't help but melt at what Cage had said. She smiled sadly. Cage was going to get worse, and yet he was not going to stop. How could she stay mad at someone like that?

**Uhhhhhhhhh... I've been in Africa. **

**That's my excuse. **

**Comment and follow THANKS! **


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